The construction industry has shown incredible resilience, if not dynamic growth at times, for the past decade. As the industry has grown, so has the demand for a greater variety and improved quality of construction products and materials. Further, as more and more relatively untrained individuals, as opposed to trained or licensed professionals, are willing to attempt certain building, remodeling or improvement tasks, the demand for greater accessibility to, and enhanced convenience of using, such a variety and quality of products and materials has also increased.
Due at least in part to the to the typically manageable size of such projects, and the labor related cost savings that may be realized, tile installation projects are but one example of a construction project that many individuals are willing to attempt with little or no experience or training. While certainly not simple, the average tile project can be completed in a matter of days. Further, the tools and supplies required to do so are readily available for purchase, and in fact, oftentimes many alternatives are available. For example, there are at least 4 different types of grout to choose from in order to fill the joints between placed tiles, i.e., cement grout, polymer modified cement grout, two part polymer grout, and one part polymer grout.
Although each of these may be suitable or desirable depending upon e.g., the particular application and the installer's preference, one part polymer grout is the only one that offers the convenience of being available in a pre-mixed state. That is, and whereas one part polymer grout hardens, and perhaps cross links to some extent, merely upon drying, the other grouts cure or harden upon the addition of water, or in the instance of two part polymer grout, upon the combination of the two parts. As such, these grouts must be mixed at the time of use and once mixed must be used quickly prior to their hardening to such an extent as to become unusable.
Although one-part polymer grouts thus provide a significant convenience to tile installers, those currently in the marketplace are not optimal for all applications. As but one example, currently commercially available one-part polymer grouts are only available in a limited amount of premixed colors (typically white, black and shades of brown and gray), thus limiting their use to those projects where these colors will coordinate. Many of these one-part polymer grouts are also not sufficiently strong, shrinkage and/or crack resistant in order to be suitable for use in many environments. Finally, and due at least in part to the fact that these grouts harden though moisture loss, conventional one-part polymer grouts can be susceptible to shrinkage or cracking, especially when utilized with tile that absorbs substantial amounts of water itself, such as clay-bodied tile.
The convenience of use of one-part polymer grouts could thus be enhanced if such pre-mixed grouts were available in a wider variety of colors. One-part polymer grouts could further be improved if they were suitable for use in a wider variety of applications than currently available one-part polymer grouts.